Two of the largest agencies in the Federal Government released documents over the holidays announcing increased opportunities for contractors in the aerospace and technology industries. The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) announcement provides diverse geographic opportunities, while the Department of Defense (DOD) Roadmap outlines opportunities for a broad scope of contractors.
The FAA announced on December 30, 2013, the selection of the six public entities that will develop unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) research and test sites around the country. These congressionally-mandated test sites will conduct critical research into the certification and operational requirements necessary to safely integrate UAS into the national airspace over the next several years. After a rigorous 10-month selection process, the FAA awarded test sites to the University of Alaska, the State of Nevada, New York’s Griffiss International Airport, the North Dakota Department of Commerce, Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VA Tech).
Each of these entities submitted proposals focused on different aspects of UAS testing. For example, the University of Alaska proposed to develop UAS safety standards based on a diverse set of test site range locations in seven climatic zones, including test site range locations in Hawaii and Oregon. Nevada’s proposal included a concentrated look at how air traffic control procedures will evolve with the introduction of UAS into the civil environment. Virginia Tech plans to conduct UAS failure mode testing and identify and evaluate operational and technical risks areas, with test site ranges located in both Virginia and New Jersey. Contractors will have the opportunity to work with each of these entities to achieve their research objectives.
The DOD late last month also released its roadmap for unmanned vehicles, entitled “Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap FY2013-2038.” This road map establishes DOD’s technological vision for the next 25 years and outlines the actions and technologies for DOD and industry to pursue to intelligently and affordably align with DOD’s vision for further integration of unmanned systems into the nation’s warfighting plans. Unmanned aerial vehicles have received the most press, but unmanned underwater vehicles and ground vehicles also provide warfighters with enhanced capabilities. The DOD Roadmap explains in detail the technologies needed to further develop these unmanned systems, including: interoperability and modularity; communication systems, spectrum, and resilience; security (research and intelligence/technology protection (RITP)); persistent resilience; autonomy and cognitive behavior; and weaponry.
